Queen Quet, Chieftess of the Gullah/Geechee Nation, Brick, Special Formula, and Dayclean de African Spirit will all be a part of the Riceboro RiceFest in the Gullah/Geechee Nation this weekend! Bring de famlee and jayn we!

The U.S. travel and tourism industry generates approximately $2.1 trillion per year. So, it is no surprise that there is actually a “Tourism Week” celebrated. In South Carolina, Gullah/Geechee culture is often highlighted at the I-95 North Visitors Center in Hardeeville, SC. However, in most cases, Gullah/Geechee culture is not highlighted, it is hijacked!

The massive amount of tourists that come to the Gullah/Geechee Nation annually believe that by driving through and taking photos and then staying in a hotel or camp ground over night, they have supported the Gullah/Geechee people. They even end up often duped into spending funds at “historic sites” and plantations that have Gullah/Geechee listed on their websites and shots of sweetgrass baskets on their brochures to only find out that there are no Gullah/Geechee people that own that site. There may be one Gullah/Geechee person or a few that work there, but beyond their salaries, there is no economic support going to the citizens of the Gullah/Geechee Nation.

Many that come to St. Helena Island seek out two of their natives that are known around the world-Queen Quet and American Idol winner, Candice Glover. They will get a chance to see them on their screens from the comfort of their own homes shortly as these two get to proudly represent their ancestors on “Underground” which premieres on WGN on March 8th. They want everyone to RISE UP and tune in! E gwine be a time!

Channel Channel hosted a “Southern Road Trip” with the Potash Twins. This journey brought them through the Gullah/Geechee Nation. During the journey, they got to connect with Queen Quet, Chieftess of the Gullah/Geechee Nation (www.QueenQuet.com) at the Gullah/Geechee owned “Hannibal’s” restaurant in Charleston, SC.

Enslavement advertisements in Savannah marketed the “Black gold/Black cargo” to insure people were aware of the “superior attributes of African slaves from Gambia, Sierra Leone, the Gold Coast, Angola, and New Calabar.” The “slave trade” on River Street in Savannah began as “intercolonial domestic trade” with enslaved Africans being brought from South Carolina to be sold into bondage or to be rented out to clear the land that would become Carolina gold rice and Sea Island cotton fields as well as to be built up to become the city of Savannah.

This broadcast has opened the eyes of people around the world to the continued destructionment going on throughout the Gullah/Geechee Nation which all began with the first gated area on Hilton Head Island and how that has now literally cleared the way to some natives of that island and their family members participating in the exploitation of their own people.

Queen Quet, Chieftess of the Gullah/Geechee Nation (www.QueenQuet.com) and Afroculinary Specialist, Michael W. Twitty (www.afroculinary.com) had a dialogue about the revolutionary nature of maintaining a cultural culinary legacy and how this relates to the roots of Gullah/Geechee culture.